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Monday, 25 March 2013

Pakistan: Sectarian Divides

Pakistan: Sectarian Divides

Ram Puniyani

South Asia has been in the grip of sectarian violence since
fairly long. During last three decades and more particularly during the last
decade this violence has been intensifying in degree and spread. It was sad
news to hear that the Christian Community of Joseph Colony, Badami Bagh Lahore
was the victim of one such violence recently (March 2013). In this violence 178
houses of the low-income community, as well as shops and three churches were
looted and burnt to ashes. The local Pastor was attacked and the father of
Savan Masih, the youth falsely accused of blasphemy, was beaten up and
subsequently arrested.

In Pakistan both non Muslims and some Muslim sects have been
harassed on religious grounds. As such the major victims of such violence are
the sects of Islam, Shias and Ahmadis. The Ahmadis has been declared as non
Muslims through an act of Parliament. As such Shias, Barelvis, Sufis, Ahmadis,
Christians, Sikhs and Hindus are the religious minorities who have facing the
wrath of dominant communal forces in Pakistan. At the time of Partition,
creation of Pakistan, the percentage of religious minorities was close to 23%
and gradually it declined. The foundation of communal violence was very much
there in the social thinking which regarded Pakistan as a Muslim state. Non
Muslim minorities and some sets of Islam has been the victim of this violence.
This violence picked up for the worse, during Zia ul Haq regime, when the
Khakis and beard-cap came into a firm embrace, an alliance, which mutually
boosted the power of both these groups.

In the decade of 1980s the other factor which contributed to the
rise in divisive thinking was the setting up of Madrassas, richly funded by
United States for its goal of control over oil resources, for countering the
Soviet occupation in Afghanistan. With these Madrassas, the US-Saudi support
strengthened the Salafi, Wahabi version of Islam and this not only targeted the
non Muslims but also the Shias and Ahmadis, the former being a substantial in
number.

This targeting of intra Islam minorities also had some external
support in the region, the Sunni factions being promoted and funded by Saudis
and Shias by Iran. The Christian and Hindus were easy enough targets for these
forces. In later decades this violence at social level came to be supplemented
by the terrorist violence from sections of Al Qaeda...

The large number of Christians there belongs to scavenger castes. Not
only they are looked down upon, and most of the times the aim of violence is to
dispose them of their lands. This is a very vulnerable social group. The
blasphemy law has come in handy for attacking these communities. One recalls
the case of Asea Bibi, who is in jail for her alleged remarks against Prophet Mohammad.
She has been sentenced to death. Her appeal is pending in the Punjab High
Court. When Salmaan Taseer, the former Governor of Punjab, spoke about
reformation of the blasphemy laws of Pakistan, he was killed by a member of his
own security guard.

Every sectarian force develops its own tools and pretexts for attacking the
minorities. Asea had fetched some water from a well, and a Muslim crowd chided
her for “polluting” the water since she was a “dirty (low caste) Christian”. The
twist of arguments led to her death sentence.Similarly in Aug. 2012, Rimsah Masih, the young, mentally challenged 14
year old girl was arrested for burning the pages from the Koran.

And now this mob of Muslims, which was coming out from the Masjid, broke
into and destroyed the belongings of several Christian homes, because, as
alleged by the one Muslim man who had a argument with one Christian man, the
Christian had blasphemed against Islam. Quick mob justice, punish the community
for the alleged work of one!

The pretexts notwithstanding
the pattern are similar. The Muslim communal groups have been on the rise since
the Zia regime. The degree of intensity of their boldness can be gauzed from
the fact that they openly take the credit for such violent acts. This to some
extent shows their clout and acceptability in the system.

The trajectory of
communal forces in three major countries of South Asia has been parallel but
very distinctive. In India the Hindu communalism, vitiated the peace and the regular
targets were the non Hindus, Christian and Muslims. In between Sikhs were also
subjected to massive violence. The increase in anti Dalit violence during this
period cannot be visibly linked up with the anti Muslim and Anti Christian
violence. Still the study of history of this violence tells us that the
intensification of anti minority violence in early 1980s began with violence
against dalits in 1981 and 1986. In Bangla Desh and Pakistan the non Muslims
are targeted and differing sects of Muslims are also subject to this violence.
In Pakistan, it seems the minority sects of Muslim and Christian and Hindus
seem to be sailing in the same boat.

It will be infesting to
note that unlike the perceptions prevailing here that all Muslims are anti Hindus
and supporting violence what came to be noticed in recent anti minority
violence was that the condemnation of these attacks against religious
minorities by the secular groups in Pakistan. The case in point is the recent
anti Christian violence in Lahore, the people to condemn this have been the activists
from Forum for Secular Pakistan, articulating the wish for a secular state in
Pakistan and upholding the secular values in that country. To condemn this
attack in Lahore the Jamia community in Delhi organized a candle vigil and
Khudai Khidmatgars issued strong statements condemning the violence against
Christians n Pakistan, Many other groups have also added to the voices against
such an insane act of violence.

While condemning one
type of violence, the criticism dished forward is ‘why you criticize only this
communalism’? As such the comments and criticism of democratic elements are
directed against the acts which take place irrespective of the religion of
offenders and victims. The secular groups and commentators who raise their
voices against violence are dubbed as being against being this or that religion,
being one sided and what not? The real issue is to be against all sort of
targeting of religious minorities and intra religion groups. We seem to be in a
downward phase of history where the communal elements are getting more powerful
through the dastardly violence against the vulnerable groups, more often poor
of the community, but not necessarily so.